High Conservation Value Forests in Romania -Development, implementation and next steps– George Dinicu & Radu Vlad - WWF DCPO Romania,June 2008

Development  the HCVF toolkit was adapted for Romania  first field test in 5 forest areas : Apuseni Mountains ha with ha identified (Belis, Sudrigiu,Remeti) Macin Mountains ha and Naruja Communities ha  2005 in April the first final version of the toolkit was printed and distributed

Implementation  the state forest company Romsilva together with Romanian Forest Research Institute has used the toolkit for identification of HCVF forests in ha proposed for certification.  Results: ha identified as High Conservation Value Forests  Study of WWF DCPO Romania in Maramures area identified 6800 ha of HCVF in ha.  1324 ha of HCVF 3 category excluded from cuttings in management plans

Problems identified  Biodiversity inventories for HCVF 1.2 category are too costly and involve important numbers of specialists  Thresholds should be more precise and with more measurable parameters  Introduction of a new HCVF category 1.5 for genetic conservation  The state forest company was not doing the HCVF identification using consultative processes( danger of losing valuable knowledge from local experts or NGO’s)

Problems identified  The toolkit lacks specific management measures for each forestry ecosystems in HCVF 3 category  HCVF assessments done mostly in FSC certified forests( independent assessments done only by WWF)  Confusions due to the NATURA 2000 Directives implementation in  Need of a model frame in the toolkit for monitoring of the biodiversity (HCVF 1.2 category)

Next steps  HCVF toolkit readapted by the end of 2008 including the new NATURA 2000 legislation and the problems observed during inventories.  State forest company and Romanian Forest Research Institute will continue full HCVF inventory in all state forests starting with  Similar processes started by Romanian Ornithological Society (BirdLife) – High Nature Value Forests for Birds - national scale inventory  lobby for HCVF introduction in forestry management plans outside of certified areas